I want to start this story with a note important to the context of what follows: I am very fortunate to have the opportunities I do to travel. I realize that travel requires both the time to do so and the means of making it possible. I am incredibly thankful for this and think about it whenever I get on a plane. I cannot stress enough that I am blessed with these adventures.

Matera is an excellent location for photography, and I was surprised by how open it was for exploration. This surprise was very evident after I arrived in Florence, concluding Matera. Florence is one of the most renowned Italian destinations and one that many first-timers to the country choose to visit. However, comparing the number of people in Florence to those in Matera is a stark difference.

Close to two years ago, I wrote a post about the Fujifilm X-E4 and why that camera was great for travel. At that time, I had been using the X-E4 for over a year and had used it on many travel destinations. Since I had moved from a two-camera setup while travelling down to using only the X-E4, I felt I had enough experience with the camera to say it was one of the best I had owned and used for my travels. There were numerous reasons why.

It’s early in the morning, and I am sitting at the departure gate at Florence Airport. I'm returning home after nearly two weeks of travel and street photography in Italy. Florence gets more than 11 million visitors per year. In a city of about 370,000, that’s a lot! With so many people focused on their time in Florence, street photography becomes more comfortable as it’s easier to blend in without much notice from anyone else around you.

“What should I take on this trip?” I ask myself this question every time, and with this current trip, which lasts 12 days, I weighed on this decision more than usual. I’m halfway through this trip, and it’s my last day in Matera. Tomorrow, I will fly from Bari to Florence. Looking back on my deliberation a week ago, I feel I’ve made the right choice on what to bring regarding gear.

With some additional free time this month, I have been planning a solo trip these past weeks. When looking at how I could use this time, there were many destinations I was considering. Using Google Docs, I was working on multiple itineraries and flights to consider. What would be the best option?

Fujifilm film recipes are a combination of customized settings used to capture photographs in unique and original ways. The Fujifilm X-H2, released in September 2022, has standard film simulations “built-in,” allowing you to replicate certain film stocks or looks. The X-H2 includes Provia/Standard, Velvia/Vivid, Astia/Soft, Classic Chrome, PRO Neg. Hi. PRO Neg. Std, Classic Neg., Nostalgic Neg., Eterna/Cinema, Eterna Bleach Bypass, Acros, Monochrome, and Sepia.

There has been a continuing trend of taking the tried and true SUV design that has been around for decades and, with a bit of surgery, changing it into something less practical to create a “coupe” version. You can credit the BMW X6 for starting this trend back in 2007, but since then, more and more manufacturers have offered a sloped-roof version of many of their SUVs.

The MX-5/Miata was first introduced in 1989 and is now in its fourth generation, but it has not lost what has become so beloved. It is still a relatively affordable sports car that is a blast to drive with its near 50/50 weight distribution. This was my first time driving any iteration of the MX-5. Once dropping into the low seating position and organizing myself with the limited space provided, I remembered how fun such a small, agile car could be.

This summer has been great for the weather, but I have been away from automotive photography; I have been busy with other things, mainly travel. And with our limited car season, I haven’t shot anything automotive-related since the fall of last year. That’s almost ten months! That’s a long time to be away from my primary photography subject. With this hiatus and some upcoming shoots, I wanted to scout locations with the BMW M2.

I’ve been back from Scotland for a few weeks now, and I wanted to take this opportunity to summarize how I photographed the country, including which gear I used most and what film simulation I used. I also want to examine how many final images came from the RAW files and how many were JPEGs. I was heavily debating bringing the Canon 5D Mark II with the 24-105mm and the 70-200mm as I knew I would be taking photos of vast areas and would like to zoom in on details and isolate my framing.

Our week-long adventure exploring Scotland’s landscapes spanned about 1,000 kilometres, making stops in cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh and scenic spots including Glencoe, Fort William, Inverness, and the Isle of Skye. The journey through Scotland offered various experiences and sights, from the towns to the countryside. If you’re planning a visit, here’s a glimpse into what you could expect from Scotland.

The 2020 Scotland trip, revised for 2024, finally happened. I’m working on a post about our experiences in Scotland and what to expect if you plan on visiting, but in this post, I wanted to share some of the photos I captured from Scotland and the background of each one. Overall, I wasn’t feeling it at first. I’m used to that, as it can take a while to become focused.

For the past two nights, we have been staying in a bed and breakfast on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Today, we will head east towards Aberdeen, north to Dundee, and then to Edinburgh for the final few days. Photographing the Scotland landscape has been challenging so far, as, in hindsight, I should have brought some range. I have been thinking about scale while travelling around the landscape of Scotland.

It was May of 2019, and Lisa and I were assembling an itinerary for our upcoming Scotland trip the following May. We would land in Edinburgh and extensively tour Scotland, looping through many country areas. There were dozens of points on our custom Google Map of places we would visit. We booked our flights and waited until we would touch down in Scotland for the first time.